Heart failure is one of the main causes of death in industrialised countries and is a result of the inability of mature heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) to divide and replace damaged heart muscle. Since the therapeutic use of embryonic cardiomyocytes is prohibited in most countries, adult human stem cells could represent an alternative for regenerative medicine. Adult stem cells of differing origin have previously been injected intramyocardially in order to be converted to cardiomyocytes. However, only in animal experiments has such cell-to-cell contact induced mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. Therefore, in particular the use of human cardiomyocytes from human adult stem cells for the regeneration of injured or damaged myocardium is a goal that for many years has been striven for but not yet been achieved in an optimal manner.
In DE 10 2006 003 996.3 said object has been principally achieved by providing a method for producing autonomously contractile heart muscle cells by differentiation from adult stem cells that have been isolated from exocrine gland tissue and by providing specific material compositions containing said stem cells.
Said cellular compositions which e.g. comprise injectable cellular compositions, may, in some instances, have the drawback that the cells arrive at the desired application site but do not remain there (e.g. possible in the case of an injection) or that the material composition is rather voluminous which delays the desired resorption in the body and requires more space in the body (e.g. in the case that conventional solid supporting materials are used).